


The Problem of Cain Heel

by acuteneurosis



Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: Cain Heel - Freeform, Evil Plans, Gen, Jelly Woods is a witch, Mentors, Setsuka Heel - Freeform, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, When in doubt ask the dating sim, Why not siblings?, problem solving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-21
Updated: 2010-09-21
Packaged: 2019-09-25 06:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17116127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acuteneurosis/pseuds/acuteneurosis
Summary: Every character has to start somewhere. Before they are refined by the fire of an actor's will, they are born in the mind of a creative genius. Sometimes, an evil creative genius. Lory plots his revenge on Ren, who's latest role had been causing concern.





	The Problem of Cain Heel

**Author's Note:**

> It is always fun to dabble in Lory's head. You find the most interesting things.

Cain Heel was a problem.

Having dragged the boy away from his home so many years ago, Lory now understood some of the difficulties that Kuu had faced, trying to help his son in the entertainment industry without cushioning him too much.It had been easy for the president, at first, dealing with the proud but uncertain Kuon.

No gentle nudges or subtle actions to teach him.Hit the boy over the head with skepticism and disbelief, tell him to man up and figure it out for himself.Watch him explode in anger, then wallow in frustration, and finally pull himself out of the hole he had dug.

Then Tsuruga Ren had been born, and Kuon had all but disappeared.Lory was still uncertain as to whether or not this had been a good thing.Kuon could never go home if he did not exist.But Lory had let it go and called it the first step.Tsuruga Ren would meet up with Kuon one day, and things would right themselves.Love would fix it.Love always did.

Then a few years passed, and Lory began to doubt his choice.Certainly, Ren was doing well in the industry.But his growth as a person had stymied and it was very quickly going to impact his work as an actor.It was not just that Lory wanted for Kuon what Kuu had found so many years ago in Julie.Lory wanted all of the benefits that would come from Ren/Kuon struggling with his emotions again, growing closer from his current self to his past self, developing his _real_ self.

His verbal abuse as a teaching method had gentled over time as Ren had learned to stand on his own two feet, but still, Lory chose aggression over honesty when it came to his concerns for his charge.Dark Moon had been a frightening experience for Lory, though he would not ever tell Ren so.It was the first real test that Ren had been through in a long time, and Lory knew he could not change his help pattern, even though Ren was not taking the problem seriously.

When Ren had made it through the trial scene, showing clearly an understanding of some real form of love, Lory had wanted to cry (and laugh, the boy was hilarious after all).Something had moved in Ren.And it was about time.

Now, he was taking another step, this time, backwards.Going back to the person he had been a lifetime ago, using it in his acting, accepting that he could be a good person without denying his own actions.

The problem was, again, he just was not taking it _seriously_.Oh, he thought he was.Ren _knew_ the dangers, Lory knew the dangers, and if Kuu had any idea of what his son was about to try and do, he might actually break all his promises and intervene.An accident in Dark Moon would have been a set-back.A mistake here could be fatal, and not just to someone’s career.

But Ren was not doing anything to prepare for what was coming.Not really.

Lory was stuck.Just like before, he could not help Ren.There was an advantage to Ren’s obligation to use the identity of Cain, mandated by his eccentric director.That would make it a bit easier to cover up messes when (not if) things went south.But while it might save Ren from the public, it would not save Ren from himself.And no matter what he said, Lory would not believe that Ren had any control over his temper.

Oh certainly, he had kept it tramped down beneath his mask of gentlemanly indifference, but he could not actually control it.And letting it out was going to be very dangerous.Lory owed it to Ren and to all the people who would interact with Ren to have some kind of control set up in case of emergency.

Ren had chosen the watch, for personal reasons.Lory thought it was a sentimental, but stupid idea.

It was not enough.

Sitting on his couch, staring past the screen in front of him, Lory tried for the millionth time to think of something he could do to actually help Ren.Dark Moon had produced the acting test, which would not have fixed Ren’s problem, but would have redirected the public frustration to Lory if things had not worked out.But that was no good this time.This time, he needed to directly intervene.Badly.

His eyes finally refocused on his television, and he let out a sigh.The odious boy was ruining Lory’s first play-through of his newest dating sim.How could the idiot be so helpless?

As Lory flicked the analog stick idly, letting the cursor drift from “Invite over,” to “Ignore,” and “Get someone else to help,” he tried to think of something he could give Ren to protect him.

The boy needed more than a reminder of his past action.He needed a protective charm, against danger, chaos, and fate.He needed a force as powerful and unpredictable as life itself, which could intervene directly should trouble come calling.He needed more than a flimsy chain on his temper.He needed an impassable bond.

And then, the skies opened and Lory, smiling maniacally as his cursor drifted over “Get someone else to help,” once more, knew exactly what he needed.

This was a job for the LoveMe section.

After all, no other organization in the world would have had the capacity to handle a man like Tsuruga Ren. But more importantly, the LoveMe section had already proved to be able to solve Ren’s problems.After all, it had been the number one LoveMe girl that had dragged Ren (kicking and screaming still) to his understanding of the fundamentals of Katsuki’s character.

It was perfect.She was perfect.The only thing Ren could possibly need as Cain Heel was Mogami Kyoko.

Of course, he would _not_ be telling Ren this.Besides ruining a perfectly good surprise (which would be wonderful payback for Ren ruining Lory’s game time), Ren would object and might do something to warn Mogami-san away.That would be no good.

But what to do with her exactly…

Cain would not care about Kyoko herself, would not listen to Kyoko, and if he did, Kyoko would only be a liability suggesting that Cain was someone she knew well.

Too dangerous.

She would have to have her own character.Probably the best one would be a position as Cain’s manager, since Yashiro would not be able to be seen with Cain.There went two birds with one stone.A role where she could act as manager.

But that was not quite enough.After all, a manager would not be with Cain full time.And those breaks between, when Ren would be left to brood over his misery on his own, would be bad.Not only would they hurt Ren (which, Lory really did not want, in spite of any and all evidence to the contrary), but it would make it difficult for Kyoko’s character to learn how to read him and control him.

She needed to be someone who would be with him at all times.

Which thought, of course, made Lory snicker.All times meant she would have to be living with him.There was really no escaping it.It was just too important for her to be around him as Cain.

And if that made Ren uncomfortable, that was fine (revenge was a lovely motivation in this case, since, really, he had no good reason to make Lory worry so much).Kyoko was the kind of professional who could handle the living arrangements once she agreed to them, and could get Ren to work with them as well.And she would agree to them.Lory had his ways, and the girl was uncommonly concerned about Ren’s wellbeing (for obvious reasons, but Lory would let her work that out for herself).

The most obvious choice was for her to be his girlfriend.Lory enjoyed toying with that idea for a while.

The problem was, of course, Ren.

Lory was uncertain about whether or not Kyoko could really pull off a romantic role, but from what he could understand of her she had a base to start from.Whatever relationship that she had been in that had not worked out, she could still understand the fundamentals of love.That was obvious in her affection for Kuu, who she had barely known when she was asked to act his admiring son.And while he did not want to push her too quickly into a role she was not comfortable with, he had faith that she could handle anything she chose to.

Ren, stuck in a position where Kyoko was acting as his girlfriend, acting out a character based on his days as Kuon, was not a safe living companion.Period.And the worst part would be that he could probably drag Kyoko deep enough into her own character in the beginning to make her slowly lose control of the situation as time went on.Kyoko herself would be able to push Cain away.But Cain would own his relationship with his girlfriend, and as unfair as it would be, Kyoko would end up hurt.

This was unacceptable.

And the reality was that Cain was unlikely to have a girlfriend.It would clash with his natural character.Two outsiders acting together would raise suspicions.It was not a good combination.There were too many gaps.

There was always the possibility of Kyoko acting a boy.Her work as Kuon proved that she was capable of those kinds of roles.But the only role that she could really play as a boy that would be close to Cain and make sense would be a younger brother.And a younger brother like Kuon would not make sense.Cain would not care about him.A younger brother like Cain (especially one played by Kyoko) would not be the kind of talisman that Lory was looking for.

Actually, the thought of that particular combination terrified Lory.

Which really, only left the role of sister open to Kyoko.Lory was not particularly keen on this idea at first.He had a hard time picturing exactly the kind of sister that would best suit Cain.But it had a number of things going for it.

First, Kyoko would have no objections to a non-romantic role verses a romantic one.And she would be safer.Next, no one would question the two siblings living together.There would be nothing scandalous about it, or questionable.No fights, no mid filming break ups (which would be good since Lory had no intention of letting Ren ditch his charm).And in addition to all of this, they would be siblings, which would throw any searching questions far askance of the truth.As long as they could act like siblings (and Lory was certain they could) no one would associate the two with the sibling-less Ren and Kyoko.

But what would she be like?It would not be a stretch for Kyoko to turn her Kuon character into a female.She liked the part well enough.But it was just too strange to think of Ren living with a female version of his younger self, especially while he was acting as his older, out of control self.And that character still did not feel right for the person living with Cain.

The person who lived with Cain had to be flamboyant, eye catching.She had to be able to take attention away from her brother.She had to have a personality capable of dragging Cain along with her own flow.Of course, in the end, it would be up to Kyoko to make just the right character, and since Lory did not want to restrict her in general, he would have to come up with a good physical base for Kyoko to work off of.

He dropped his controller and immediately contacted his most trusted make-up magician.Only his trusted Jelly Woods would be able to help him come up with the right image.

She arrived a mere fifteen minutes after he had called, asking her for her special help with his dangerous mission.He had already recruited her for working on Ren during his work as Cain, but this was going to require a lot more from his wonderful muse.This would require the delicate and artful touch of a master.He could only trust her.

He gave her a very brief explanation of what he wanted, and another fifteen minutes after she had arrived, Jelly had the first drafts for Cain’s sister down.Then came the discussion.

“We want her to catch attention, but be stylish.Instead of all blue hair, how about highlights.”

“Oooh, yes!Only not blue.It has to be pink.Pink on blonde for sure. And longer.”

“We can’t get her too many outfits.Her first one has to make an impression though.The plaid mini skirt seems a bit schoolgirl.”

“Cain’s in leather right?Leather to match then.Leather mini, not plaid.”

“And a corset top then.Boots would be better too, I think.”

“Oh yes, much better.And fingerless gloves…”

A few more minutes and everything seemed to come together at last.The basics of her makeup were laid out, but Lory was fairly certain that once Jelly met Kyoko, some of the sister’s design would change.Looking at the picture that had been put together, Lory smiled.

Ren was going to _loath_ him.Served the kid right too.

He sat back and looked at the design for just a moment more, wondering if there was anything else he could do.Part of him felt a little guilty, putting Kyoko in an outfit like this and sending her straight to a hotel to spend a night with Ren.Neither Lory nor Jelly had really been thinking about how Ren would handle Cain’s sister’s look.There had to be something they could do.

“How about a lip ring…”

Jelly looked at her darling and smiled.

“It doesn’t sound too bad.Do you think it fits the image?”

“I don’t think it hurts.And it might stop Ren from kissing her…”

Jelly laughed and quickly added lip ring and flamboyant chain to the drawing.

“Is that awkward enough?”

“Yes, that will work.”He looked at the picture and smiled.He knew Ren would hate him for interfering (and for putting Kyoko in this particular outfit), but Lory was not going to stand by and watch Ren ruin himself for pride.It would be good for Ren to have someone he cared about watching him.And maybe it would bring the two of them closer together.Maybe Kyoko, the only one who had any sway over that boy’s life now, would be able to handle the hurt he was hiding.

Whatever the case, there was no doubt in Lory’s mind that this girl was definitely Tsuruga Ren’s most powerful protective charm.Nothing the world threw at him would be able to survive her.

“Hello, Setsuka Heel…”


End file.
